“It was a nice break from everything,” said Livae Nanjikana, who set out with friend Junior Qoloni from Mono Island on Sept. 3, The Guardian reported on Friday. Equipped with only a small, 60-horsepower motorboat and a sack of oranges for snacking, the pair planned a route headed 200 kilometers south to the town of Noro, New Georgia Island, within the Solomon archipelago of New Guinea — a trip they’ve taken in the past.
When rough skies challenged their navigational system, the sailors decided to wait out the storm, turning off their engine to conserve fuel until they could resume course. But heavy rains and wind would blow their rudderless vessel off-course, and down their GPS altogether — sending them to float about 400 kilometers northwest of their starting point on Mono Island.
“We didn’t know where we were but did not expect to be in another country,” said Nanjikana, who would survive 29 days with Qoloni eating the citrus they’d brought, plus coconuts scooped from the sea and rainwater collected on the boat.
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